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San Agustin

Why you should visit San Agustin

Explore the San Agustin Archaeological Park to see the enormous stone statues of humans, jaguars and frogs among others

Drive through rural San Agustin to see the mighty Magdalena River and the waterfalls of Bordones and Mortino

Horse ride or hike to El Tablon, a small site with a collection of sculptures in their original setting with incredible views of the surrounding mountains

Take the time to visit to the impressive Tatacoa Desert with its Wild West landscape, huge cacti and beautiful hummingbirds

Our specialists 'Must Do'

Simply take the time to include this region on your visit to Colombia. Still off the beaten track and with few tourists, the history of San Agustin is quite breathtaking and best to get there before it is truly discovered by mainstream tourism.

A little more about San Agustin

Latin America is renowned for its ancient civilisations and incredible archaeological sites with Machu Picchu in Peru, Tikal in Guatemala and Chichen Itza in Mexico among the most well-known. San Agustin also enjoys a wealth of history and archaeology and should certainly be considered another of the continent’s important historical sites.

The San Agustin Archaeological Park, a UNESCO Site since 1995, is just one park in the area which is home to impressive yet bizarre stone figures carved out of volcanic rock. Some of the 150 or so pre-Columbian statues date back to 5,000 BC, depicting people, animals and mythical creatures used to represent life, death, good and evil. Very little is known about the civilisation responsible for these statues as they had no written form of language and disappeared long before the arrival of the conquistadores.

There are a number of other sites to visit including Altos de los Idolos and Piedras, La Chaquira, El Tablon and La Pelota. Visitors to Idolos and Isnos will find a smaller scale version of the San Agustin Archaeological Park, but no less interesting with its equally impressive sculptures. La Chaquira is perched on a mountainside with carvings of figures in the rocks and breathtaking views of the Magdalena River and the surrounding lush mountains.

It should be noted that accommodation in this region is simple, with service sketchy at times, however the locals are very friendly and always willing to help where they can. San Agustin does not have its own airport; however visitors to the area can arrive in to Neiva to the north or Popayan to the west. The drive from both airports is approximately five hours, however once the new road from Popayan is constructed, the journey will be around two to three hours.

When to go

A year round destination, the driest months are December to March and September, with April, June and October the wettest months. The climate is fresh with warm days the norm, though evenings are usually chilly.